The 22nd ADS IWG session will be held in central Sydney, Australia, from 6-9 October. The meeting facility will be confirmed soon.

Guidebook for the installation and use of emergency warning lamps (such as flashing lights used on police, ambulance, and other emergency vehicles as well as on construction and other heavy equipment).

Proposal to:

• Add microsleep detection capability to DDAW systems,
• Require DDAW or equivalent monitoring when partial automation is active,
• Define broader driving conditions for effective operation including unmarked roads and direct lighting,
• Establish DDAW functionality under driver occlusions such as sunglasses,
• Set requirements for drowsiness warnings and acknowledgement by drivers,
• Enhance test methodology including continuation after first warning and demographic diversity,
• Establish mandatory drowsiness warning threshold at KSS level 8 with optional soft warnings at KSS levels 6–7,
• Introduce time-based penalties for delayed detection of drowsiness,
• Include specificity and positive predictive value as performance metrics.

Summary of research findings from DDADWS meetings 8 and 9 concerning driver drowsiness detection and warning systems. Topics covered include fatigue contributing to 15–30% of road crashes, the safety-critical nature of KSS levels 8 and 9, distinguishing drowsiness from microsleep events, eye-closure behaviour as a practical detection tool with 2-second minimum duration criteria removing 85% of false positives while preserving 90% of true positives, KSS as a validation reference measure, testing environments including simulators and on-road conditions, system performance metrics, observable signs of drowsy driving including lane deviations and ocular indicators, participant demographics and state, ensuring valid drowsiness testing, warning effectiveness and escalation strategies, and evidence-based design factors for drowsiness warnings.

Proposal to develop a mandatory, testable microsleep detection and warning capability for the 01 series. Microsleep is a brief loss of consciousness indicated by 1–3 second eye closure that presents an immediate and significant road safety risk. The system should detect eye closure over time, use supporting cues such as neck droop or body slump to confirm events, and provide a dedicated and appropriately forceful warning strategy. Detection logic may use primary criteria such as >95% eye closure for >2.5 seconds or combined criteria such as >85% eye closure for >1.8 seconds plus neck droop or body slump. Testing pathways include controlled simulation with deliberate eye-closure events and fatigued-driver testing to observe genuine microsleep events.

Presentation on maintaining effective drowsiness monitoring when Driver Control Assistance System (DCAS) is active. A DDAW system using indirect means cannot effectively assess driver drowsiness when the driver is not nominally required to steer, brake, or accelerate. Hands-on or eyes-on engagement does not establish alertness. Either the DDAW system or an alternate system should meet prescribed DDAW system performance while DCAS is active, with no gap in coverage or performance. UN R171 02 series amendments do not prescribe DDAW-equivalent performance criteria for drowsiness determination.

Proposal to expand minimum operating conditions for driver drowsiness and attention warning systems to include roads with absent or significantly faded lane markings requiring road-edge detection capability, strong direct light directed towards driver-facing and road-facing sensors, and cabin temperature and humidity conditions prone to causing camera fogging. The proposal applies technology-neutral consolidated performance requirements rather than distinguishing between direct and indirect system means. Data from Australian and Great Britain road networks show that the majority of road fatalities occur in rural areas on roads often unmarked or with degraded markings, and road-edge detection is already technically available and demonstrated by vehicles tested under ANCAP protocols.

Presentation summarising proposal 5 on drowsiness warnings acknowledgement. The 00 series permits warnings to cascade and intensify until driver acknowledgement but does not clearly prescribe acceptable driver actions or subsequent system response. Acknowledgement does not remove drowsiness risk. Proposal seeks to define acceptable acknowledgement actions, require continuous monitoring after acknowledgement, and mandate renewed warnings when safety conditions persist or return within a maximum time-period. Microsleep warnings must not be muted through acknowledgement of drowsiness warnings.

Presentation on proposal 6 summarising enhancements to DDAW system test methodology. Proposes setting clearer requirements for participant selection, pre-conditioning, repeated testing of each participant, continuation of testing after the first true positive warning, and capture and treatment of near-crash events. Addresses existing limitations including narrow participant coverage, limited lighting conditions, testing that ends after the first true positive, and exclusion of false negatives during learning phases. Proposes mandatory methodology for representative evidence including minimum test runs per participant, broader demographic and physical characteristic representation, fatigued and rested participant preparation, near-crash event capture, and shorter learning periods. Notes the interconnectedness to other 01 series proposals including drowsiness threshold, false negative classification, operating conditions, and performance metrics.

Proposal to distinguish optional early information from mandatory warning thresholds by allowing optional soft information at Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) levels 6–7 and requiring mandatory hard warnings at KSS 8 or above. The proposal sets one mandatory threshold for warning classification and performance criteria, allowing visual advisory messages with limited audible tone at KSS 6–7 without driver acknowledgement required, and requiring clear visual indicators, audible warnings with minimum duration and volume, and haptic escalation at KSS 8 or above. Hard warnings would be subject to validation testing for sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value classification.

Proposal to record successive false negative events for each interval where the driver remains at or above Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) 8 and no warning is given, after a defined grace period of [X] minutes following the initial false negative. Currently, under the 00 series of UN R182, only one false negative is recorded per KSS transition, regardless of warning delay duration. The proposal introduces a time-based penalty to penalise delayed detection and make sensitivity metrics better reflect actual system performance.

Proposal to include specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) as complementary performance metrics in the 01 series alongside sensitivity. Specificity measures how well the system avoids warning non-drowsy drivers; PPV measures how often a warning corresponds to genuine drowsiness. Both metrics address the false-positive burden not adequately shown by the 00 series, which focuses on sensitivity alone. Separate criteria should be set for drowsiness monitoring and microsleep detection, developed together with revised test methodology rather than simply added to the existing methodology.

Proposal for amendments to enable the application of UN R28 to ADS vehicles.

Proposal to exempt external status indicator lights (e.g., in mirror lamps for blind spot sensor, status of refrigerated trailer cooling systems, trailer REESS status indicators, tyre pressure indicators, ABS status indicator) from UN R48 while specifying permissible colors and behaviors to avoid confusion with police, emergency, and other priority-vehicle lighting.

This paper has been submitted by the expert from Australia to clarify with the GRE if/where lamps other than those defined/specified in UN Regulation No. 48, including external optical signals to indicate the operating status of a trailer system, can be fitted to vehicles in conformity with this Regulation.

The current format of the type approval mark illustrated in Annex A3 is not consistent with the requirements of Section 5.2.1, which may unintentionally lead to approval marks not being issued or accepted in the correct format. The proposed amendment to Annex A3 aligns the illustrated approval marks with the requirements of Section 5.2.1 and Schedule 4 of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement. This proposal is available with tracked changes in a pdf version and in a .docx format.

Proposal to correct drafting errors within the 06 and 07 series of amendments.

Proposal to clarify the purpose of UN R139 which was originally established through the extraction of brake assist system (BAS) provisions from UN R13-H on brake systems. Within the context of UN R13-H, the BAS provisions were written to assess performance in cases where a vehicle was fitted with a brake assist system. As a stand-alone regulation, UN R139 applies only to vehicles that are equipped with BAS. Therefore, this supplement proposes to refine the text to remove the “if fitted” language and ensure that UN R139 can only be applied to a vehicle equipped with a BAS.

Proposal to remove “if fitted” language from the text to clarify that UN R140 can only be applied to a vehicle equipped with a ESC system. UN R140 was originally established through the extraction of electronic stability controls (ESC) provisions from UN R13-H on brake systems. Within the context of UN R13-H, the ESC provisions were written to assess performance in cases where a vehicle was fitted with an electronic stability control system. As a stand-alone regulation, however, UN R140 applies only to vehicles that are equipped with ESC. The proposal also would correct an apparent error in to Annex 4, paragraph 2.1. where the reference to “ISO 15037 Part 1:2005” should read “ISO 15037 Part 1:2006”.

The initial regulations for Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning and Advanced Driver Distraction Warning systems were adopted at GRSG-130 and WP.29-198. DDADWS is developing 01 series regulations, with workshops and online meetings planned. The group seeks a mandate extension to October 2028 to complete 01 series development, with proposed submission for approval to GRSG-136.

Proposal to extend the mandate of the DDADWS informal group until October 2028 to enable development of new (01) series of amendments to the original texts of the driver drowsiness and driver distraction warning systems regulations.